Mach doch mal!

When I tell the guys at the flight school (they are actually all guys, females are as rare as oxygen on flight level 390) that my wife sent me here, I shut down conversations. The fact that I don’t have to justify flying at home gives me major street cred with my new best friends. That is a promising start.

The only woman I encountered during flight training are Marita as the friendly flight control voice in my ear coming from the tower and Konny who was in the theory class with me.

I’m getting a sports pilot license. It will let me fly light sports aircraft. 475.5 kg max take off weight, 2 people. It is an easy entry into flying. My equipment is the Italian MD3 Rider. It is a modern high wing metal aircraft and is is a good trainer as it is very forgiving.

I had my first lesson in June of 2010. I started flying before going to ground school. I’m not sure if this is the most efficient way but it sure did get me hooked.

Ground school was several weekends with a total of 60 hours. The time was not nearly enough for the content of the curriculum and after passing the test with over 90% I still don’t feel very sound on weather and law. I will have to keep reading I guess.

During the summer I made good progress and clocked a lot of hours. But we had an early fall and the weather was against me on more than one occasion. Frustrating weeks of cancelled lessons were interrupted by flights in marginal conditions. Slow progress with only a hand full of solo flights were a very early test for my patience. That made me a student with more than minimum hours and more than average experience in marginal conditions. Not the worst thing if you learn to accept it.

Now it is early February and I have a few of the more interesting requirements still open in my curriculum. A long distance flight, safety landings and a mock up flight exam again and again. The sun is back again and my spirits are high!

To be continued…

(Originally posted on February 28, 2011 by tilbo at http://aloft.blog.com/mach-doch-mal/)